interface method for verifying the content summary

ABSTRACT

An interface method for verifying the content summary, includes the following steps: when a user requests a service content, the service management platform configures the calculation parameter of the content summary (S 102 ); the service management platform instructs the content server of the content provider to provide the content summary information according to the calculation parameter of the content summary (S 104 ); the content server of the content provider generates the content summary information according to the calculation parameter of the content summary, and returns it to the service management platform (S 106 ); and the service management platform obtains the content summary information, and determines whether to verify the consistency of the service content (S 108 ). By implementing this invention in mobile multimedia broadcast multicast system for guaranteeing the consistency of the service content provided by the CP.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to mobile multimedia broadcast multicasttechnology, more particularly to an interface method for verifying thecontent summary, used in a mobile multimedia broadcast multicast systemfor guaranteeing the consistency of the service content provided by thecontent provider.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

With the development of the mobile network communication technology, thetransmission of various types of media content information becomes moreand more convenient, and the various types of media content informationbecomes increasingly rich and colourful, for example, users can receiveand enjoy various types of music, video, games, etc.

Various types of abundant contents rely to a certain extent, on contentproviders (CPs) who make and provide media contents. A part of thecontents is even proprietary to the CPs and stored and provided asservices by the CPs, which is already a feasible way for expanding thevalue-adding service market.

Therefore, the CPs provide content services to users relying on theplatform offered by operators. That is to say, the CPs provide servicesto the users through the broadcast multicast service (BCMCS) ofoperators' broadcast multicast service center (BM-SC) or registeringcontent service of the management platform. However, the content itselfwill not be uploaded to the system of the operator for management, butare provided as services to users directly by the CPs' content servers.

Currently, Digital Rights Management (DRM) may be applied to the abovecase, but the process is relatively complex. Since it relates tocomparatively complex process and interface technologies, it leads to arelatively high requirement from the CPs' content servers. Furthermore,the DRM may require an authorization centre from the operator or a thirdparty.

Therefore, it is imperative to have an interface method for verifyingthe content summary, for guaranteeing the consistency of the servicecontents provided by the CP in a mobile multimedia broadcast multicastsystem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

With respect to the problems in the art, the present invention providesan interface method for verifying the content summary, used in a mobilemultimedia broadcast multicast system for guaranteeing the consistencyof the service contents provided by the content provider.

The present invention provides an interface method for verifying thecontent summary, which includes the following steps: step 1, when a userrequests a service content, a service management platform configures thecalculation parameters of the content summary; step 2, the servicemanagement platform instructs the content server of the content providerto provide the content summary information according to the calculationparameters of the content summary; step 3, the content server of thecontent provider generates the content summary information according tothe calculation parameters of the content summary, and returns thecontent summary information to the service management platform; and step4, the service management platform obtains the content summaryinformation, and determines whether to verify the consistency of theservice content.

Wherein, the content summary calculation parameters are unifiedconfigured or correspond to the service content provided by the contentprovider.

The calculation parameters of content summary comprise at least one of:a content identifier, a segmentation list, a calculation sequence, andalgorithm choices, wherein the content identifier indicates the contentregistered by the content provider, the content comprises the name ofthe service content provided by the content provider and the content ID;the segmentation list is a parameter list obtained by segmenting thecontent data, and comprises at least one of: a data unit length, optionsfor multi-stage segmentation, options for constant-length segmentation,and a data segment length; the calculation sequence specifies thecalculation of one execution content summary of the data segment; andthe algorithm choices specify the algorithm type and parameters used tocalculate the content summary.

In the method of the present invention, the premise for performing step2 is that the content provider has submitted the registration of theservice content.

Wherein, when the content provider submits the registration of theservice content, the service management platform obtains the initialcontent summary information of the service content.

Alternatively, the premise for performing step 2 is that the servicemanagement platform needs to perform the service content consistencyverification.

Wherein, when the service management platform needs to perform theservice content consistency verification, it acquires the initialcontent summary information of the service content; and determines toperform the service content consistency verification in step 4.

In step 3, performing the following processings: the content server ofthe content provider parsing one or more calculation parameters of thecontent summary; according to the calculation parameters of the contentsummary, the content server of the content provider performs the contentsummary calculation of the service content and obtains the contentsummary information; and the content server of the content providerreturns the content summary information to the service managementplatform.

When the content provider submits the registration of the servicecontent, step 4 performs the following processings: the servicemanagement platform specifies the calculation parameters of the contentsummary; and makes the calculation parameters of the content summarycorresponding to the initial content summary information.

Alternatively, when the service management platform needs to perform theprocessing of service content consistency verification, in step 4determining to perform the processing of the service content consistencyverification, the processing of the service content consistencyverification is: the service management platform compares the contentsummary information obtained from the calculation parameters of thecontent summary with the initial content summary information, so as todetermine the consistency of the service content.

Therefore, the method of the present invention can guarantee theconsistency of the service contents provided by the CP in a mobilemultimedia broadcast multicast system.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will be describedin the following description, and be obvious partly from the descriptionor be understood by implementing the present invention. The objects andother advantages of the present invention can be realized and obtainedthrough the structures indicated by the specification, claims anddrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawings provide a further understanding of the present inventionand constitute a part of the specification, which are used to explainthe present invention with the embodiments of the present inventionrather than to limit the present invention, wherein,

FIG. 1 is a flow chart of the interface method for verifying the contentsummary according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the networked devices involved by anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the steps of the interface method for thecontent summary verification according to an embodiment of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 4 is a process sequence view of employing the present invention toprovide service.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The preferred embodiments will be described in connection with drawings.It will be appreciated that the preferred embodiments described hereinare provided only for illustrating and explaining the present inventionnot for limiting the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a flow chart of the interface method for verifying the contentsummary according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, themethod comprises the following steps:

Step S102, when a user requests a service content, the servicemanagement platform configures the calculation parameters of the contentsummary;

Step S104, the service management platform instructs the content serverof the content provider to provide the content summary informationaccording to the calculation parameters of the content summary;

Step S106, the content server of the content provider generates thecontent summary information according to the calculation parameters ofthe content summary, and returns the content summary information to theservice management platform; and

Step S108, the service management platform obtains the content summaryinformation, and determines whether to verify the consistency of theservice content.

Wherein, the content summary calculation parameters are unifiedconfigured, or correspond to the service content provided by the contentprovider.

The content summary calculation parameters comprise at least one of acontent identifier, a segmentation listing, a calculation sequence, andalgorithm choices, wherein, the content identifier indicates the contentthat the provider has registered, which comprises the name of theservice content provided by the content provider and the content ID; thesegmentation listing is a parameter listing obtained by segmentingcontent data and comprises at least one of data unit length, options formulti-stage segmentation, options for constant-length segmentation, anddata segment length; the calculation sequence specifies the calculationof one execution content summary of the data segment; and the algorithmchoices specify the algorithm type and parameters used to calculate thecontent summary.

In the method of the present invention, the premise for performing step102 is that the content provider has submitted the registration of theservice content.

Wherein, when the content provider submits the registration of theservice content, the service management platform obtains the initialcontent summary information of the service content.

Alternatively, the premise for performing step S104 is that the servicemanagement platform needs to perform service content consistencyverification.

Wherein, when the service management platform needs to perform servicecontent consistency verification, it acquires the initial contentsummary information of the service content; and determines to performthe content consistency verification in step 4.

In step S106, the following processings are performed: the contentserver of the content provider parses one or more calculation parametersof the content summary; according to the calculation parameters of thecontent summary, the content server of the content provider performs thecontent summary calculation of the service content and obtains thecontent summary information; and the content server of the contentprovider returns the content summary information to the servicemanagement platform.

When the content provider submits the registration of the servicecontent, step 108 performs the following processings: the servicemanagement platform specifies the calculation parameters of the contentsummary; and makes the calculation parameters of the content summarycorresponding to the initial content summary information.

Alternatively, when the service management platform needs to performservice content consistency verification, that what will be done in stepS108 is to determine to perform the processings of the service contentconsistency verification, the processings of the service managementplatform compares the content summary information obtained from thecalculation parameters of the content summary with the initial contentsummary information, so as to determine consistency of the servicecontent.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the steps of the interface method for thecontent summary verification according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. As shown in FIG. 2, devices mainly involved in the embodimentare:

User terminal 202, used to obtain a service guide from the servicemanagement platform and to choose the service content to be used, sendauthentication request to the service management platform, parse contentservice parameters, and obtain content data from a CP content server andshow it;

Service management platform 204, used to provide the content servicefunction registered by the CPs, request to verify content consistencyand verify the content summary, and authenticate the user terminal;

CP content server 206, used to provide the content service function tothe user terminal, generate the content summary and provide it to theservice management platform; and

CP terminal 208, used to enable the CP to register content service atthe service management platform and manage the CP content server.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the steps of the interface method for thecontent summary verification according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. The method according to the present invention will bedescribed in connection with FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 3, comprises thefollowing steps:

S302, the service management platform 204 configures the calculationparameters of the content summary, wherein, the operator configures thecalculation parameters of the content summary according to managementrequirement, these parameters are the major parameters of the contentconsistency protection interface; the parameter configuration methodcomprises globally unified configuring the parameters or making themone-to-one corresponding to the content service. The latter allows theparameters of each content service being different.

S304, the service management platform directs the CP content server toprovide the content summary information according to the parameterindication, wherein, the indication sent to the CP content server by theservice management platform contains the parameters or its list, thepremise of the instruction initiated by the service management platformcomprises that the service management platform needs to acquire theinitial summary information of the content at the time of the CPsubmitting content service registration, when the CP submits the contentservice registration, the service management platform needs to obtainthe initial summary information of this content, while the verificationon the service management platform is a demand on the contentconsistency of the service management platform verification.

S306, the CP content server generates the content summary informationaccording to the content summary information generated by the parametersand returns it to service management platform, wherein, the CP contentserver performs the summary calculation of the content file and returnsthe summary information according to the parameters, afterward the CPcontent server can parse one or more calculation parameters from theindication of the service management platform; and

S308, the service management platform obtains and utilizes the contentsummary information, wherein, if the premise is the CP submitting thecontent service registration, then the service management platform needsto obtain the initial summary information of the content, and theservice management platform specifies the parameters for the summarycalculation, corresponding to the content summary information; and ifthe premise is the service management platform needing to verify contentconsistency, then the service management platform obtains the latestcontent summary information from the CP content server, and compares itwith the stored content summary information.

In step S302, the parameters comprise one or more of the followingparameters: a content identifier, a segmentation listing, a calculationsequence, and algorithm choices. Wherein the meanings of the parametersare as follows:

The content identifier uniquely indicates the content that the CP hasregistered, such as content name or content ID;

The segmentation list is the parameter list obtained by segmentingcontent data and comprises one or more of a data unit length, optionsfor multi-stage segmentation, options for constant-length segmentation,and a data segment length;

The calculation sequence specifies which data segment to be applied withthe calculation; and

The algorithm choices specify the algorithm type and parameters to beused. The available summary algorithms comprise MD5 or SHA-1, etc.

One example of parameter organization is shown in Table 1, which may beconveniently described using XML

TABLE 1 Parameter organization example parameters Example data exampleContent ID 12345678 Or content name Segmentation Data unit length 1Unit: byte listing Options for 1 N: segmenting multi-stage n stagessegmentation Options for segment 1 0: length length varying, 1: constantlength Data segmentation 65536 length Calculation {1, 11, 21, . . . }sequence Options for Algorithm type MD5 algorithm Algorithm 16 16-bitsummary parameters value for each segment

When the content is identified with content name, the content name isunique.

In step S306, the calculation comprises: obtaining the calculationparameters; partitioning the content data into data segments;calculating the summary values of various segments; aggregating thesummary values of various segments.

Aggregating the summary values of various segments can be realizedsimply by concatenating respective summary values corresponding tovarious segments in accordance with the order of the content datasegments, and the resulting summary value is returned.

FIG. 4 is a process sequence view of employing the present invention toprovide service. As shown in FIG. 4, the following steps are involvedwhen the service system provides service:

S402, the user terminal obtains the service guide, wherein, the userterminal obtains, via an HTTP interactive manner, i.e., the userterminal via HTTP GET request and response with the service managementplatform, the service guide information from HTTP GET Response, wherein,this can be realized in another manner, i.e. broadcast manner, the userterminal obtains the service guide information from the broadcastchannel of a known service management platform without a step ofinitiating a request by the user terminal, when the user selects aservice content. After the service guide is demonstrated by the userterminal, the user can select the content service provided by theservice guide at his terminal;

S404, the user terminal initiates an authentication request for the userservice, wherein the message can comprise a user identifier (MSISDN orMDN), a content identifier, etc.;

S406, the service management platform initiates indication for contentconsistency examination, wherein, the service management platformspecifies the summary calculation parameters and initiates indicationfor content consistency examination;

S408, CP content server calculates content summary, wherein, theparameters for the calculation are shown in Table 1, said calculationcomprises the following steps: obtaining the calculation parameters;partitioning the content data into data segments; calculation varioussegment summary values; aggregating the summary values of varioussegments, and the content data segments being partitioned in one-stagemanner or multi-stage manner according to the parameters after CPcontent server having parsed the calculation parameters; and employing asuitable algorithm and algorithm parameters to calculate the summary ofthe data segments according to the “calculation sequence” parameters forthe segments whose summary values to be calculated, and aggregating thesummary values of various segments which can be realized simply byconcatenating respective summary values corresponding to varioussegments in accordance with the order of the content data segments, andthe resulting summary value being returned;

S410, the service management platform obtains the content summary value,wherein, CP content server performs the summary operation of contentfiles and returns the summary information;

S412, the service management platform verifies the content summaryvalues, wherein, the service management platform compares the savedcontent summary information with the obtained content summary values forverification;

S414, the service management platform returns the user serviceauthentication result, wherein, if the content consistency verificationfails, then the authentication fails, or else other authentication forservice management will be taken into account, for example whether it isnecessary to determine order relationship, whether the orderrelationship is satisfied, whether it is necessary to check the user'saccount balance and whether the user's account balance is enough, andthe like; for the case in which the content consistency verificationfails, the system will prompt the user the service being denied as wellas inform the CP in a certain way in time; and

S416, the user terminal obtains content data for content service, andparses content service parameters including the IP and port of contentservice, and media encoding parameters, etc., wherein, the way fortransmitting content which transmitted by the CP content servercomprising video-on-demand or broadcast multicast, etc.

All in all, with the above mentioned interface method of the presentinvention, the consistency between the content registered by the CP andthe service content can be guaranteed to a certain extent.

Above description is only to illustrate the preferred embodiments butnot to limit the present invention. Various alterations and changes tothe present invention are apparent to those skilled in the art. Thescope defined in the claims shall comprise any modification, equivalentsubstitution and improvement within the spirit and principle of thepresent invention.

1. An interface method for verifying the content summary, used in amobile multimedia broadcast multicast system for guaranteeing theconsistency of the service contents provided by a content provider,wherein, the method comprises the following steps: step 1, configuring,by a service management platform, the calculation parameters of thecontent summary, when a user requests a service content; step 2,instructing, by said service management platform, a content server ofthe content provider to provide the content summary informationaccording to said calculation parameters of the content summary; step 3,said content server of the content provider generating said contentsummary information according to said calculation parameters of thecontent summary, and returning said content summary information to saidservice management platform; and step 4, said service managementplatform obtaining said content summary information, and determiningwhether to verify the consistency of the service content.
 2. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein, said calculation parameters of thecontent summary are unified configured, or correspond to the servicecontent provided by said content provider.
 3. The method according toclaim 1, wherein, said calculation parameters of the content summarycomprise at least one of a content identifier, a segmentation list, acalculation sequence, and algorithm choices, wherein, said contentidentifier indicates the content registered by said content provider,said content comprising the name of the service content provided by saidcontent provider and the content ID; said segmentation list is aparameter list obtained by segmenting said content data, and comprisesat least one of: a data unit length, options for multi-stagesegmentation, options for constant-length segmentation, and a datasegment length; said calculation sequence specifies the calculation ofone execution content summary of said data segment; and said algorithmchoices specify the type of the algorithm and parameters used tocalculate said content summary.
 4. The method according to claim 1,wherein, the premise for performing said step 2 is that the contentprovider has submitted the registration of said service content.
 5. Themethod according to claim 4, wherein, when said content provider submitsthe registration of said service content, said service managementplatform obtaining the initial content summary information of saidservice content.
 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein, thepremise for performing said step 2 is that said service managementplatform needs to perform said service content consistency verification.7. The method according to claim 6, wherein, when said servicemanagement platform needs to perform said service content consistencyverification, said service management platform acquiring the initialcontent summary information of said service content; determining toperform said service content consistency verification in said step
 4. 8.The method according to claim 1, wherein, performing followingprocessings in said step 3: said content server of the content providerparsing one or more said calculation parameters of the content summary;according to said calculation parameters of the content summary, saidcontent server of the content provider performing said content summarycalculation of said service content and obtaining said content summaryinformation; and said content server of the content provider returningsaid content summary information to said service management platform. 9.The method according to claim 5, wherein, performing the followingprocessings in said step 4: said service management platform specifyingsaid calculation parameters of the content summary; and making saidcalculation parameters of the content summary corresponding to saidinitial content summary information.
 10. The method according to claim7, wherein, in step 4, determining to perform the processing of saidservice content consistency verification, the processing of said servicecontent consistency verification is: said service management platformcomparing said content summary information obtained from saidcalculation parameters of the content summary with the initial contentsummary information, so as to determine the consistency of said servicecontent.